"Honor: A History," a new book written by James Bunting, deals with the importance of honor as a concept in the past and the loss of that sense of honor today. The Bible commonly uses honor (spelled "honour") in the sense of giving honor to someone else (as to God) or receiving honor from others (as in honoring our father and mother). The closest Bible word for what is meant by a sense of honor is the word honourable. To be honourable is to receive honor or to be worthy of receiving honor. Samuel was introduced to Saul as a man of God and "an honourable man" (1Samuel 9:6). Jabez, who prayed and received answer to his prayer, was "more honourable than his brethren" (1Chronicles 4:9). Joseph of Arimathaea was "an honourable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God" (Mark 15:43). Honor is the opposite of shame in the Bible. Therefore, a sense of honor involves living in such a way as to avoid shameful acts and associations. The emphasis in the Bible on having a "good name" (Proverbs 22:1; Ecclesiastes 7:1) embodies the idea of that sense of honor; that determination to act in an honourable way. George Washington was famous for the importance he placed on his reputation and honor. We long to see such honor today.
In 1639, a Baptist preacher in London wrote a book entitled, "The Sufficiency of the Spirit's Teaching without Humane Learning; or, a Treatise Tending to prove Human Learning to be No Help to the Spiritual Understanding of the Word of God" (listed in W. T. Whitley's "A Baptist Bibliography"). Baptists have always had an uncomfortable relationship with the academic world. They have often been accused of being ignorant and some Baptists have been known to glory in their ignorance. Yet, every time Baptists begin to exalt education and learning, they tend to stray away from God. There must be a balance, even though it is an uneasy one at times. Our learning must always proceed from the Bible and be firmly grounded in God's word. Then, we must accept that Bible-believers will always be looked upon as "unlearned and ignorant men" (Acts 4:13). But we must also remember that God looks on the world as "ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth" (2Timothy 3:7). May we always exalt the knowledge of God and holy things as the ultimate goal of all our learning and seek the wisdom of God instead of the wisdom of this world.
The Lord is clearly interested in beauty. Some form of the word is used 76 times in the Bible. We are told that God "hath made every thing beautiful in his time" (Ecclesiastes 3:11). He so highly exalts the proper concept of beauty that He often associates it with holiness (Psalm 29:2; 96:9; 110:3). Unfortunately, men tend to pervert beauty as they do all that they touch. God reminds us that outward "beauty is vain" (Proverbs 31:30) and human "beauty is a fading flower' (Isaiah 28:1). Men corrupt beauty and make the "beauty of a man" a focus for idolatry (Isaiah 44:13). Eventually, man's perverseness causes his "beauty to be abhorred" (Ezekiel 16:25). The very concept of what is beautiful is no longer recognizable.
Sadly, many of the reported converts to Christianity on the African continent are being led astray by a false spirit. The television airwaves in the country of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where most people still believe in black magic, are being dominated by charismatic preachers performing exorcisms as a great spectacle of power. The "Telegraph" reports: "The young Congolese woman lay screaming on the dusty ground, arms thrashing wildly as a white-gowned preacher gripped her head and prayed. As she fainted, thousands of spectators in Kinshasa's Tata Raphael stadium roared with excitement - yet another public exorcism was reaching its climax."
According to a study completed by a team of sociologists (as reported in the July 3, 2006, edition of "Time"), people in America are losing friends. From 1985 to 2004, the number of people with whom we can discuss "important matters" has dropped by one-third. That is, if people had three close friends twenty years ago, they only have two today. When considered that this is based on averages, this is a serious drop and it points to a continuing disintegration of the bonds of society. In order to "enjoy" our newfound freedoms, we are splitting up our families and communities. In order to "enjoy" our entertainment, we are immersing ourselves in private video viewing and computer surfing. We are leaving the churches and becoming strangers to our neighbors.
Today's Wall Street Journal has an editorial on how the IRS is reviewing the content of sermons to see if it deems any of them to be political in nature. Under the ungodly and probably unconstitutional 1954 Revenue Act, churches risk losing their tax exemptions if they "participate in, or intervene is... any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for political office." For years this was interpreted very conservatively and very few problems arose. But now, at the instigation of groups like Americans United for the Separation of church and State (an anti-god and anti-Christian organization), the IRS is stepping into the churches.
